Overheard
by Eternal Soldier
Summary: Arthur has been getting more and more withdrawn since the deaths of his father and Lancelot, and behaving in a manner quite unlike himself. But after a training session that their king was absent from, the Knights of the Round Table may be about to find out why, as they overhear something they never could have imagined. Merlin/Arthur, implied Gwen/Lancelot.


_A/N: So, um, yeah. I know I've been absent from writing for a very, very long time. I have had absolutely no motivation to write, and to be honest I felt like my muse had abandoned me. I had absolutely no ideas. But anyway, while I may not have any more ideas or motivation to write Criminal Minds (while my main stories for that are on hiatus, they WILL be finished eventually, I promise!) after watching the Merlin finale I have all these ideas for Merlin stories. So anyway, here is one of them!_

_This is a Merlin/Arthur fic (so if you don't like slash, you have been warned!), set vaguely after Lancelot's death in 'The Darkest Hour, Part 2'. It's told mostly from the point of view of the Knights of the Round Table, until close to the end of the fic. There is also a bit of implied Gwen/Lancelot. This fic is also slightly AU as it is as if Gwen and Arthur never had any romantic feelings towards each other._

_This is also my first ever 'Merlin' fic, so I'm not sure whether I've kept everyone in character. Hopefully I have; and even if I haven't, I hope you enjoy this fic anyway._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin or any of its characters._

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**Overheard**

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Training was now something the knights of Camelot actually looked forward to; at least a lot more than they used to, anyway. The death of Lancelot, his noble sacrifice to save their kingdom, was still fresh and raw in their minds. It had been compounded further by the loss of their King, which of course led to Arthur's coronation. Needless to say the knights needed something to distract them from everything that had happened, and training was the perfect thing. Of course, it would help if they were able to find their king.

Arthur had been the one to call the training session the day before. He had been moping around the castle for the better part of the week, looking very miserable even for somebody who had just lost both his father and one of his closest friends, and discovered that Morgana was actually his half-sister who tried to kill him and take over his kingdom. He'd been snapping at servants who did the tiniest thing wrong, was pushing himself and his knights harder in training that they ever had before, and he wouldn't talk to anyone about anything that didn't have to do with official business. In fact, the knights didn't even think they'd heard Arthur picking on Merlin these past few days. And when they couldn't hear the pair (who were the greatest of friends, even if they couldn't admit it) trading insults and sarcastic comments back and forth, they knew something was wrong.

None of them were ever going to ask what the matter was. They knew that Arthur was a very closed off person; he never expressed his thoughts and emotions to anyone. Except for… well, Merlin, and it seemed that Arthur wasn't even talking to _him_ right now. The knights almost relied on the banter between Arthur and Merlin now, to lighten the mood and to remind them that there was more to life than constant wars and fighting.

Being Arthur's second in command amongst the knights, Sir Leon had been the one to go and find him. And finally, nearly half an hour later, Sir Leon returned… without the king.

"So where's our lazy king, Leon?" Gwaine joked, that ever-present smile on his face.

"He's asked me to take training today," Leon replied.

The knights looked thoroughly confused. "Why on earth for?" Elyan asked. "I don't think he can be comforting Gwen about losing Lancelot. She looked quite well when I had breakfast with her this morning. And she had a lot of work to do today in the castle."

"It's not," Leon informed them. "Arthur said he had to go off into the forest. He's taken Merlin with him."

"Did he say why?" Elyan asked.

Leon shook his head. "He just said he had to go urgently and that he'd miss training, but he would be training us tomorrow. I don't think even Merlin knew where or why they were going. He looked just as confused as I felt."

"So what on earth is Arthur doing?" Percival asked. "Should we go after him?"

"No," said Leon instantly. "Arthur wants us to train, and so we will train. Besides, he is our king. It is not our place to question him."

"No, that's Merlin's job, isn't it?" Gwaine laughed. "In fact, he's probably doing that right now."

"I wouldn't be surprised," Elyan agreed.

And so the knights began their training, being led by their second in charge instead of their king. Leon led them for two hours through some pretty tough exercises, although admittedly they weren't nearly as gruelling as they would've been if Arthur were leading them.

Finally, exhausted and all in terrible need of a bath, the knights' training was over. They put away their weapons and their armour, and were walking past the stables when they heard a thumping noise coming from within.

Instantly the knights froze, listening intently for the noise again. Just when they thought they'd imagined it, it came again, followed by another muffled thumping sound.

"What on earth was that?" Percival asked.

"I have no idea," said Gwaine. "D'you reckon we should…" But before Gwaine could finish his sentence, the knights heard another sound coming from the stables. A sort of… _moaning_.

"Please tell me you guys heard that," Gwaine said.

Elyan nodded. "Was that someone _moaning_?" he said, shocked.

"Ssh!" Gwaine hissed, creeping closer to the stable doors. "We don't want them to hear us!"

"Don't tell me you're planning on spying on them, Gwaine," said Percival, although he too moved closer to the doors.

"It could be someone we know," Elyan warned them in a loud whisper. "And they could hear us!"

"I doubt it's someone we know," Gwaine replied. "It wouldn't be Gwen- she just lost Lancelot, and Elyan said himself that she was working today. And Merlin and Arthur aren't even in Camelot."

"Still this is wrong," said Leon, the only one hanging back as Elyan had also now moved closer to the barn so he could listen. "How would you feel if someone was listening in on you?"

"It's probably already happened," Gwaine admitted, before listening intently. "Yep. There's definitely two people going at it in there."

Reluctantly, Leon moved closer to the stable doors to join his fellow knights. He may have thought that spying on or listening to whoever was in the barn was wrong, but he was still curious. Only mere moments after Leon had joined the others, did they hear more moaning and other sounds coming from the stables. And then, the whisper of somebody name: "Merlin…"

The knights just about jumped out of their skins. "_Merlin's_ in there?" Gwaine gasped. "_Our_ Merlin? In there, going at it with some woman?"

"Shut up, Gwaine, they might hear you!" Percival warned him. "And is it really that surprising that Merlin's found someone?"

"Well, no," Gwaine admitted. "I just didn't expect _Merlin_ to be having sex with some woman in the stables, where anyone could find him. Arthur may call him an idiot, but he really isn't that stupid."

"Speaking of Arthur, where is he?" Elyan asked. "Wasn't Merlin supposed to be with him?"

"He was," Leon replied. "And it's only been a few hours. Surely they wouldn't be back already?"

But the knights' question was answered nearly immediately when they heard another voice- Merlin's voice- cry out somebody's name. "Ar-Arthur!"

The knights instantly froze. _Merlin_ was having sex in the stables with _Arthur_? What on earth was going on?

"Merlin and Arthur?" Gwaine gasped in shock, staring at the other knights who looked equally as stunned. "If that's not the weirdest thing I've ever heard, I don't know what is."

"I didn't know the king, you know, swung that way," said Percival.

"I don't really think he does," said Leon slowly. "He's only ever flirted with women in the past. I think it's just… well, I think it's just Merlin."

"They are incredibly close," Elyan mused. "Gwen's often said that it's like they complete each other; like they need each other to survive."

"They are closer than any nobleman and his manservant have ever been before," Leon mused. "And Arthur has changed quite a bit since Merlin came to Camelot."

The knights were too busy discussing Merlin and Arthur in whispers to realise that the noises within the stables within had stopped. Merlin and Arthur must not have been able to hear the knights talking, though, because Arthur opened the stable doors and froze upon seeing them.

"What are you lot doing here?" he said, trying to sound angry as possible to mask his embarrassment and fear.

"We finished training," Gwaine piped up. "And we were walking past the stables and we heard you two going at it in there."

"You were _listening_?" Arthur exclaimed, genuinely angry now.

"Gwaine started it," Elyan said.

At the sound of the yelling, Merlin had appeared at Arthur's side, looking rather dishevelled. "What's going on?" he asked Arthur.

"The knights heard us," Arthur told him.

"What?" Merlin gasped. "I told you this wasn't a good idea!"

"You didn't seem to think that when you were screaming out my name five minutes ago!" Arthur reminded him.

Merlin blushed bright red and looked down at his feet, refusing to make eye contact with anyone, including Arthur. "I'm never going to live this down…" he muttered.

"Don't worry, you two, we're not going to tell anyone," Leon assured them. "Right, guys?"

"Of course not," Gwaine promised. "Although if you were to make a public proclamation, we'd be all for that."

Merlin blushed even more, which led Arthur to do something that stunned the knights: he reached out and took Merlin's hand, squeezing it tightly in reassurance. They also thought they heard Arthur whisper, "One day, Merlin. One day I'll marry you and make you my king." The warm and happy smile that crossed Merlin's face told them that they hadn't misheard.

"Hey, what are you guys doing here, anyway?" Percival asked suddenly. "Weren't you going out into the woods for something?"

"We were," said Arthur. "We just didn't get that far."

"Only because you jumped me!" Merlin cried.

"Merlin?" said Arthur. "Shut up."

The knights laughed, as they always did when Merlin and Arthur bantered like this. It wasn't until they stopped that they realised how much they missed it.

"Sire, if I may be so bold as to ask, what brought this on?" Leon asked. "It can't have just been some random thing."

Arthur hesitated for a moment, and almost looked like he wasn't going to answer. But after a squeeze of his hand and a reassuring nod from Merlin, he opened his mouth to speak. "When we were on our way to the Isle of the Blessed, to get rid of the Dorocha."

"When Merlin jumped in front of one to save you," Gwaine remembered.

"I knew then that I just… I couldn't lose him," Arthur's voice caught in his throat; Merlin nearly getting killed by one of the Dorocha to save Arthur's life was still something he hated to think about. He would never have forgiven himself if Merlin had died that day. "And _then_ I find out that Merlin was stupid enough to try and give himself to the veil instead of me."

"So _that's _why you insisted on coming with us," Percival exclaimed. "You knew what Arthur was going to do, and you wanted to sacrifice yourself to protect him."

"It _is_ my job," Merlin protested.

"No it's not," said Arthur automatically. "Your job is to help me, not _die_ for me."

Merlin opened his mouth to speak again, but Leon beat him to it. "I wouldn't argue with him, Merlin," he said. "Our king is a very stubborn man."

"Don't I know it," Merlin muttered under his breath. "Prat won't take no for an answer…"

The knights struggled to contain their laughter, while Arthur hit Merlin on the back of the head. "Ow!" Merlin couldn't help but cry.

"Anyway, _as I was saying_," Arthur said, glaring at Merlin. "I felt horribly guilty about Lancelot's death. Not because he died instead of me, but because I was happy it wasn't Merlin. But I could keep it from my mind, because I was focusing on my father, but then he died, and I… I just couldn't stand losing somebody else I love. I just couldn't."

"So that's why you've been all mopey these past few days!" Gwaine exclaimed. "You've been too busy trying to decide whether to declare your undying love to your _manservant_! Talk about a princess!"

"You know, Gwaine, you could yell louder, I think a few people on Camelot's borders didn't hear you," said Elyan, but he had a smile on his face. Merlin, meanwhile, had gone bright red again, while Arthur looked like he was about to attack Gwaine.

"You know, men, we should probably go bathe," Leon said quickly. "We did just finish training, after all."

"Yes, you should do as Leon suggested," Arthur agreed. The knights dispersed quickly, sensing that arguing with their king at a time like this was not a very good idea. Although Leon probably _would_ actually go and bathe, Arthur knew that Percival and Gwaine would probably go to one of their rooms to gossip (even Gwaine had the sense to discuss this in private) and Elyan would head straight to Gwen to tell her the news. Still, at least Arthur and Merlin were alone again.

"Now, where were we?" said Arthur with a wicked grin, his mouth hovering dangerously close to Merlin's.

"You know, we should probably take this somewhere more private before we continue…" Merlin warned him. "We don't want to get caught again."

"You know, Merlin, for once you actually have a point," Arthur admitted. There was a moment's silence, and then; "I love you, Merlin."

"I love you too, Arthur." And before Merlin knew it, they were in Arthur's bed and he was calling his king's name once more.

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_E/N: So, everyone, that was my first ever 'Merlin' fic! What did you think? Love it, hate it, somewhere in between? Was everyone in character, or not? Please, let me know! Reviews are most welcome! :)_


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